1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a flotation-hydration system including a vest assembly comprising a flotation assembly therein to provide required buoyancy, and a hydration assembly which is also disposed substantially within the vest assembly in a supported relation to provide for balance and to prevent entanglement of the hydration assembly as the user maneuvers about a watercraft or elsewhere.
2. Description of the Related Art
People of all ages enjoy a wide variety of water based recreational activities. These include boating, fishing, water skiing, etc. Furthermore, these activities are conducted in a wide variety of places ranging from small inland lakes to the open seas and oceans which surround us all. While pursuing many of these activities it is often recommended and in some instances required by regulation that certain or all persons don an approved personal flotation device while engaging in one or more of the above activities. As such, numerous personal flotation devices have been developed over the years, among the more common being a life preserver, or doughnut, and a personal flotation type vest, more commonly referred to as a life jacket.
As noted above, while conducting some of these activities, such as boating, fishing, water skiing, etc., it is recommended if not required that all persons wear a personal flotation device. It is also known that while conducting these activities, users are not always able to freely move about a water craft, for example, while commandeering the same, or while trolling, or even fishing while anchored. As such, it is not always convenient for people to maintain adequate hydration while engaged in these popular water activities.
As such, at least one device has been developed which provides for mounting a refillable hydration container onto the back of a standard life jacket and providing a tube to extend over a user's shoulder from the hydration container so that the user has a ready fluid supply at their disposal. Unfortunately, a hydration container and tube hanging off the back of a life jacket can easily become caught or entangled as a user maneuvers about the water craft. Further, simply strapping a hydration container to the back of a life jacket does not provide for a balanced distribution of the weight of the fluid within the hydration container, which can lead to imbalance of the user as he or she maneuvers about the water craft. As will be appreciated, loss of balance on a moving, or even stationary, water craft can be dangerous and can result in a used inadvertently falling overboard, possibly into the path of an oncoming craft.
A variation on the previously described device includes a hydration bladder strapped along a user's back while an inflatable flotation device is worn around the user neck and abdomen. As will be appreciated, the entanglement and balance issues are not resolved by virtue of having a front mounted inflatable flotation device and a hydration bladder mounted along a user's back.
As such, it would be beneficial to provide a combined flotation-hydration system wherein a hydration chamber is mounted within a flotation vest assembly such that the hydration chamber does not become entangled while a user is maneuvering about a water craft, or otherwise. It would be further beneficial to provide a flotation-hydration system having a hydration support assembly within a flotation vest assembly, wherein a hydration chamber is maintained in a supported and balanced orientation in the hydration support assembly in the back panel of the flotation vest assembly so as to assure an even distribution of the weight of the fluid in the hydration chamber, thereby providing balance for the user.